Meeting the Queen.

Last weekend I attended the British Association of Seoul Ball...

...at the Grand Hyatt Hotel...

...the event was to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth...

...who has now been Queen of the British Commonwealth for 60 years (1952-2012)...

Unfortunately... I was dangerously ill with an ugly cough for the entirety of last week...

...I felt like a biological weapon on the subway...

As a result of this death-like-virus...

...I was really struggling to get out of bed to venture downtown to find a ball gown...

...so I kind of took the lazy option and cut-up and modified a dress I already owned

...it was a really  really dreadful idea...

I thought that if I added a lot of unrelated jewellery...

... then maybe people wouldn't notice that I was too lazy to find and purchase a proper ball gown...

How wrong was I ?!?

Upon arrival I noticed a mammoth Queen Elizabeth commemoration ice sculpture...

...which can only mean one thing...

...it had to be a rather over-the-top British nationalistic event...

But I didn't feel so guilty about being underdressed for long...

 

... as I met a British guy whose drycleaning had not been delivered on time...

...and therefore with no suit jacket or tie...

...he took the title for most underdressed person in attendance...

After the welcoming...

...a british-cuisine (?!) 4 course meal began...

...one part of the meal involved everyone receiving an individual ice sculpture...

...I find all these ice sculptures to be a terrible waste of money...

...but I guess British people think they are a novelty... (?!);

I wore...

...brown lipstick (see brown lipstick @the Faceshop Korea)...

...and blue (slightly) suede shoes...

I am not the most nationalistic Australian...

...but that is not unusual for Australians...

...the Australian flag is even banned from some national events...such as the Big Day Out...

...Australia is still a part of the British Commonwealth...

...the Queen of England is our head of state and her representative (the Governor General in Australia) signs off on all our Australian laws...

 

...that said...

...modern Australians are generally not monarchists...

...but British people... wow... they really really do love their Queen...

...I know it seems rather ignorant of me to be shocked that British people feel so strongly about their Queen...

...but I genuinely felt surprised about how genuinely proud British people were of their Royal family...

...I met a lot of people from all sorts of countries...

...Japan, Philippines, Thailand, Canada, Russia, New Zealand...

Everyone received a table gift at the Ball...

...Chanel for girls, and liquor for boys...

Ball gowns are not very easy to find in Korea...

...but I promise next time...

...I will endeavour to find an actual ball-appropriate-dress...